Firefighters responded to the 17400 block of Almond Road at 3 a.m. on Tuesday morning. There, the heating pad for two African tortoises malfunctioned, causing a fire that firefighters extinguished in ten minutes.

The tortoises, both three feet in diameter, "lumbered slowly but steadily to safety" and did not suffer any injuries, the newspaper reported.

One firefighter was taken to a local hospital for heat exhaustion and was released following treatment, the newspaper reported.